aether-drifter
New member
There is a new addition to my flock...meet Admiral!
He was born in August 1983, which makes him about a year and six months older than me.
I was really not planning on taking in any more birds, but I couldn't refuse him when his previous owner contacted me. I'd met the little dude a couple of years ago in a pet store, where he was living, and in chatting with the manager I discovered that she'd raised him from the egg and he was her personal pet. However, she confided that she felt bad he hardly got any attention anymore and was rarely out of the cage. I felt bad for him and offered to take him, and she kept my information. I was extremely surprised to find an email from her last week, asking if I still wanted him. Apparently he'd been taken home from the store and was now at her home again, where he was alone all day. I briefly debated, but decided I had to take him so he could live out his "golden years" happily.
I wasn't sure what he would be like at his age, and it turns out he is sort-of special needs; he has very little strength in his feet or wings. I'm not sure if he has arthritis in his feet, or if it's just muscle atrophy from being in a small cage with only two (rather thin and crappy) perches. Same with his wings; he can't fly at all. I don't know if it's his age, or the fact that he was confined so much and not allowed to exercise them.
Anyway, due to his lack of mobility, there is no way he would do well in the big cage with the others, at least not at this point. He came to me in a very small cage, and despite the fact that he isn't very active, I didn't feel right keeping him in it. It was way too frustrating trying to fit anything in there. So I bought him this cage instead, and he seems to like it much better.
If his strength improves, I would love to let him be "free" with the others (who are cage free, and have a big double flight they can come and go from as they please). But for now this is working, and he seems content. All of the toys that came with him went in the garbage immediately...they looked too depressing (at least 10 years old, the wood being faded and the metal discolored). I don't want to speak too ill of his former owner, as she did gift me with a 20-lb bag of seed for him, and she seemed genuinely concerned for his well-being. But she was fairly uneducated about bird care, and it baffles me that all of his things were so old and shabby when she is very well-off financially.
Unfortunately, he HATES hands, which is a shame because he has all these pin feathers I'm dying to preen. I think he was once very tame, but there was a time when he was terrorized by a young child and apparently he has never been the same since. He is friendly though, and likes human company. The problem is, in order to get him out of the cage, you really have to force him and he puts up quite a fuss. Once he's on a shoulder, though, he's so happy and doesn't want to leave. I'm torn on whether or not it's best to just let him sit in his cage all day, or bring him out despite his protests.
Here is a cute video of him chattering to his toy and saying "Pretty bird."
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ncimLhf8rs"]Happy Admiral - YouTube[/ame]
He was born in August 1983, which makes him about a year and six months older than me.
I was really not planning on taking in any more birds, but I couldn't refuse him when his previous owner contacted me. I'd met the little dude a couple of years ago in a pet store, where he was living, and in chatting with the manager I discovered that she'd raised him from the egg and he was her personal pet. However, she confided that she felt bad he hardly got any attention anymore and was rarely out of the cage. I felt bad for him and offered to take him, and she kept my information. I was extremely surprised to find an email from her last week, asking if I still wanted him. Apparently he'd been taken home from the store and was now at her home again, where he was alone all day. I briefly debated, but decided I had to take him so he could live out his "golden years" happily.
I wasn't sure what he would be like at his age, and it turns out he is sort-of special needs; he has very little strength in his feet or wings. I'm not sure if he has arthritis in his feet, or if it's just muscle atrophy from being in a small cage with only two (rather thin and crappy) perches. Same with his wings; he can't fly at all.
I don't know if it's his age, or the fact that he was confined so much and not allowed to exercise them.Anyway, due to his lack of mobility, there is no way he would do well in the big cage with the others, at least not at this point. He came to me in a very small cage, and despite the fact that he isn't very active, I didn't feel right keeping him in it. It was way too frustrating trying to fit anything in there. So I bought him this cage instead, and he seems to like it much better.
If his strength improves, I would love to let him be "free" with the others (who are cage free, and have a big double flight they can come and go from as they please). But for now this is working, and he seems content. All of the toys that came with him went in the garbage immediately...they looked too depressing (at least 10 years old, the wood being faded and the metal discolored). I don't want to speak too ill of his former owner, as she did gift me with a 20-lb bag of seed for him, and she seemed genuinely concerned for his well-being. But she was fairly uneducated about bird care, and it baffles me that all of his things were so old and shabby when she is very well-off financially.
Unfortunately, he HATES hands, which is a shame because he has all these pin feathers I'm dying to preen. I think he was once very tame, but there was a time when he was terrorized by a young child and apparently he has never been the same since. He is friendly though, and likes human company. The problem is, in order to get him out of the cage, you really have to force him and he puts up quite a fuss. Once he's on a shoulder, though, he's so happy and doesn't want to leave. I'm torn on whether or not it's best to just let him sit in his cage all day, or bring him out despite his protests.
Here is a cute video of him chattering to his toy and saying "Pretty bird."
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ncimLhf8rs"]Happy Admiral - YouTube[/ame]
